What's in your wallet? Maybe less, with Apple Pay

Apple Pay looks like another ingenious iPhone breakthrough.

Remember Bitcoin? It was going to change the way we buy things. Forget Bitcoin.

Ever heard of Google Wallet? Probably not.

Technology advances so rapidly that it's easy to overlook how many dazzling concepts are introduced and then fizzle. This isn't a rant about the jet packs we were promised. It's about the digital wallet.

The idea of making purchases on the go without reaching for cash or a credit card has been around at least since 1997 when you could text yourself a Coke from a vending machine. It was in Finland and obviously didn't catch on.

The smartphone has enticed many of us to shop online away from home, but for most purchases it's still "cash, credit or debit." Maybe a check, if you're over 40.

Now Apple thinks it has cracked the code, unveiling a mobile payment system connected to the newly introduced iPhone 6 and Apple Watch that will allow consumers to make in-store purchases by swiping the phone in front of a scanner.

Industry watchers believe the moment is at hand for mobile payments to take off. Forrester Research predicts the business will grow to about $90 billion in 2017 from about $13 billion in 2012.

There is reason to believe Apple will help get us there and beyond. The company has an extraordinary track record of changing the way people live and embrace technology through the user-friendly elegance of its products. Apple doesn't always dominate, but even when it doesn't it tends to push the competition. Apple Pay, the company's mobile payment system, feels like another potential breakthrough, because of the technology but also because the concept builds on the extraordinary relationship the company has with its customers. With so many people buying music and other entertainment through its online store, Apple has hundreds of millions of credit cards on file. That's a pretty nice basis on which to build a new business.

According to the company's announcement Tuesday, Apple Pay allows in-store purchases with a swipe of the phone over a scanner. In addition to the credit card tied to iTunes, consumers can add other cards to the account. The immediate concern of many consumers is the security of transactions. Apple was just in the news because hackers managed to gain access to the photos of numerous unclothed celebrities, apparently through Apple's iCloud service. This week, Home Depot was the latest retailer to report a major online theft of information. Apple Pay uses an encryption and communication system in which the actual credit card information is neither transmitted to the retailer nor stored on Apple's servers, the company said. Transactions also require the user to place a thumb on the phone's fingerprint verification button.

A lot of big companies, starting with most of the major credit card companies, are on board. That's a vote of confidence. So is the list of initial retailers that will participate, which includes Macy's, McDonald's, Walgreen and Whole Foods.

We're a long way from being able to ditch the wallet. And there's no progress on the jet packs. But things are changing so fast it can take your breath away.

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